Advertising is a messy, almost futile endeavor

A client called me from a medium-size Canadian town of about 120,000. The client is in charge of marketing for a jewelry store. One of about five competing stores within the geographic area of dominant influence of this town.
The boss had entered into an agreement to do some television advertising and they said they wanted [...]

Crashing a Focus Group

Yes, it’s true. I crashed a focus group the other night. I say “crashed” because they typically don’t let people who work  in the marketing business to participate in focus groups. Not that we’re any more or less typical than the average guy. But we might be counted on to skew the results by talking [...]